seattle, part 2

let's time travel, shall we? not too far back--don't want a "back to the future" just-call-me-calvin fiasco on our hands! and calvins totally clash with my hanky pankys. rewinding a few days to last friday, 100+ women (and a few good men) including me spent the day at nintendo hq learning about the newly released nintendo 3ds! at the onset, there were a few ground rules set into play:

• no photos inside the building except for the main conference room we were in.


• escorts! not the late-night, hush-hush variety, but nintendo staffers who kept a close eye on us as we went to the restroom. or stepped out for a phone call. or turned the wrong way down a very long hallway. guess they didn't want us to run off for an afternoon nap in the moo meadows conference room. or to break into the "kid icarus" testing area.


• no photos of the games in 3d mode.

apo. but not sydney bristow apo. nintendo apo

there's a soccer field out front. also, i heard there's a basketball court. no word on the indoor bobsled course.

reggie fils-aime, nintendo of america's president and coo, welcomed us. several women tweeted as he spoke and then asked him specific questions from their readers. i just sat there awestruck while trying to figure out the settings to my new camera. for some reason, reggie kept coming out all fuzzy in my pictures. he looks more in-focus in person, i promise.

we were separated into nintendo character-labeled groups and then rotating through each gaming station. my fellow toads rocked! (photo by shari at crazedmommy)

as we rotated, we tried out the nintendo 3ds--look, mom, no funny looking glasses necessary! over the day, we played tons of games (by the end, my eyes felt slightly cross-eyed--when playing in 3d mode, definitely take a break every 20 min. or so!) and toured the building.

when we stopped at the store (no photos there!), i was overwhelmed by all things mario-related. mario mugs, luigi pajama pants, peach t-shirts--you name it, they had it. with anything more than a few minutes to shop, i would have needed a zelda luggage set! instead, i returned home with two beanies and a wii internet converter... but i'm still secretly coveting the bowser backpack with fuzzy felt spikes. it's not practical, but it is unique!

the trip to nintendo peaked my interest; before, i knew virtually nothing about the nintendo 3ds. but now i'm really wishing i had bought street fighter at the nintendo world store when i had the chance. it quite possibly would have made the plane-ride home a peanut butter-dream free zone.

* as a nintendo brand ambassador through brand about town, i receive free products to play with and enjoy. as part of the summit, i was given a nintendo 3DS and a gift certificate to the nintendo world store. the trip was paid for by nintendo/brand about town. the opinions expressed in this blog are entirely mine and the facts true.